Special initiatives
How can we understand complex systems? This is the overarching question addressed in Gaultier Lambert’s research project, “Log-correlated fields and applications to statistical mechanics”. More specifically, he aims to understand the physics behind certain materials, such as quantum semiconductors and so-called spin glasses. The latter are materials with special magnetic properties.
The field of complex physical systems has attracted considerable attention in recent years, following the award of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics to Professor Giorgio Parisi.
Gaultier’s research takes probability theory as its starting point, a discipline at the intersection of mathematics and physics with broad applications in both the natural and social sciences. His aim is to gain a general understanding of fluctuations in a particular type of system known as logarithmically correlated fields. These systems serve as models for the random surfaces with fractal geometry that arise in Parisi’s mathematical models. Studying the geometry of such surfaces presents a fascinating mathematical challenge.
Gaultier Lambert is an associate professor in the Division of Mathematical Statistics at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.
Photographer: Tobias Björkgren.
About the call
The Swedish Foundations’ Starting Grant (SFSG) is a collaboration between the Erling-Persson Foundation, the Kempe Foundations, the Olle Engkvist Foundation, Ragnar Söderberg foundation, Riksbankens Jubileumsfond and the Swedish Society for Medical Research.
SFSG grants provide funding equivalent to ERC Starting Grants (up to EUR 1.5 million over five years), with the expectation that researchers will continue to apply for relevant ERC grants throughout the project period. The purpose of SFSG is not to replace EU funding, but to encourage more talented researchers at Swedish higher education institutions to apply for ERC grants. In the long term, this benefits both individual researchers and research in Sweden as a whole.
The Swedish Research Council has a funding initiative for top-ranked researchers in Sweden who have been placed on the ERC reserve list. The two initiatives are coordinated to maximise their overall impact. Since 2015, 21 early-career researchers have been awarded close to SEK 270 million through the initiative.
